By his side
by derekngarcia
Summary: Hotch ends up in hospital and Emily doesnt leave his side until he wakes up, Rossi convinces Hotch to tell Emily he loves her. Short story. R&R
1. Hospital Bed

Chapter 1

Emily was sitting by Hotch's bedside, waiting for him to wake up. He'd been in a car crash and was shot at whilst trying to get out of the flipped over car.

'Come on Em, let's go get a coffee,' JJ told her as she took her hand to drag her up. 'Rossi is going to stay and take your place, we need to get coffee and then you can come back, you've been here for a long time and you need to look at something other than a white wall.'

Emily looked up at JJ before nodding. 'Okay. I might pop home and have a shower and get changed as well,' she didn't want to worry her friends if she didn't have to.

'Yeah, that's a good idea.'

'But if Hotch wakes up or if anything...'

'I promise you will be the first person I call, Hotch will be fine,' JJ reassured her.

'Thank you,' Emily gave JJ a hug.

'Come on, let's go get coffee,' JJ returned her hug. 'Do you want me to drop you back at home?'

'No it's okay, I'll drive home, thanks though.'

xxx

Emily had been home and had a shower, before getting into some fresh clothes. She felt a bit better than before but wanted to get back. She hated the hospital but she was concerned for Hotch. Emily made a quick cup of coffee before leaving again.

She left the apartment quickly and drove back to the hospital but got stuck in a small amount of traffic, allowing her to think of the worst possible scenarios, yet again, making her anxiety worse. She'd been having anxiety before, even with everyone's reassurances that Hotch would be fine, and she knew they were right but it didn't stop her from having anxiety. 'Did you sleep?' Rossi asked when she entered the now familiar hospital room.

'Yeah I did actually, I didn't think I'd be able to but I slept for a bit,' Emily lied easily. 'I feel better.'

Rossi nodded although he didn't believe her. 'Good. I'm going to get some coffee.'

'Okay.' Emily sat in the vacated chair. When she was left alone in the room, she let out a sigh of relief.

Noticing a nurse come in, she quickly spoke up. 'Um do you know when he will wake up? Is he okay? Is he getting better?'

The doctor gave her a small smile. 'He's getting better, don't worry. He'll wake up soon, just talk to him, he can hear you.'

Emily nodded before looking back at him. 'How do you know each other?' the doctor asked.

'He's my boss and a friend.' Emily answered briefly, not keeping her eyes off him.

When the nurse left the room and she was alone again, Emily started talking, even though she didn't know what to say. She cleared her throat. 'Hotch... I think you should wake up, very soon. We're all worried about you. I've spoken to Jack and gone round as well to make sure he's okay and he's fine. We just need you to wake up soon. We can't do this without you. Please.' She took a deep breath as she tried to think of what else to say. 'There's so much I want to say. Jack needs his dad, we need you back.'

Emily was getting more and more tired and was just about to fall asleep when JJ came in with coffee. 'You're a life saver.'

JJ smiled. 'I figured since your not leaving any time soon, I'll bring you coffee.'

'Thank you so much.'

'Your very welcome,' JJ took in Emily's tired image. 'You look really tired Em, and I know you're not going to leave but then at least try to sleep. You look like you haven't slept in days.'

She hadn't. 'I promise,' Emily reassured her. She wanted to keep that promise, but she didn't want to be asleep when Hotch woke up. 'I just want to be here and awake when he... wakes up.'

'Good.' JJ smiled. 'We're going home for the night, but we'll be back in the morning.' JJ let her know after the pair sat in silence for a few minutes. 'I know you don't want to sleep in case he wakes up, but honestly, it will be enough for him that you're still here and haven't actually left.'

Emily nodded in return. She had nothing to say. 'He would do the same.'

'He would.' JJ agreed.

After they sat in silence for a few more minutes, JJ got a message. 'Okay, that's Reid, I've got to go but we're coming back in the morning. Let me know if anything changes okay?'

'Of course.'

'And get some sleep.'

'You to,' Emily smiled at her and watched her leave before turning back to Hotch.

* * *

Emily was holding his hand carefully, having moved it, when she fell asleep, but awoke half an hour later, feeling guilty for being asleep in the first place. She carried on holding his hand as if it was her lifeline, and maybe it was.

When Hotch finally opened his eyes, the first face he saw was Emily's and he almost smiled. She couldn't see him, because she was looking for something on the floor, but he could feel the weight of her hand on his and squeezed to let her know he was awake.

Emily let out a gasp and whipped her head back up to see Hotch looking at her with a smile on his face. 'Hotch, you're awake. Are you okay? Are you in pain? Do you need anything? Let me get the doctor.'

Emily felt like she could finally breathe again. 'I'm okay, in a little bit of pain but I'm fine otherwise,' Hotch tried to reassure her, but he could see in her face that it hadn't really worked.

He looked at Emily properly. 'You look like you haven't slept Emily.'

'I've been sleeping fine. I just need to get the nurse. Do you need anything?' Emily changed the conversation as quickly as possible.

He knew that she wasn't going to say anything yet until she knew he was properly observed, so let the conversation end. 'I don't need anything but thank you.'

She squeezed his hand before going to get the nurse.

* * *

The next morning

Hotch had been checked over and told that he could come out of hospital in a couple of days, depending on his progress.

Emily had let them know that Hotch was awake and offered to pick up Jack so that he could see his son.

Before she could leave, she made sure that someone else was with him and that he wasn't left on his own.

When Rossi walked in, he smiled. 'You're finally awake. How are you feeling?'

'I've felt better,' Hotch answered honestly. 'The doctor said I could be out in a couple of days at the moment. Emily's gone to pick up Jack so I can see him.'

'That's good, at least you get to see Jack.'

Hotch asked Rossi about all the things he couldn't remember and about his time at the hospital.

'How was Emily? She looks tired. Has she slept at all?'

'No, she hasn't left your side since you've been here.' Rossi saw Hotch smile. 'So when are you telling Emily?'

'Telling her what?' Hotch played dumb.

'Telling Emily that you're in love with her. Don't deny it.'

Hotch let out a sigh. 'Okay I'm not going to deny it.'

'But?'

'She doesn't...'

'She loves you. So much. She hasn't left your side, she hasn't even slept because she didn't want you to wake up and for her to be asleep and she always made sure that she was in the room so that you don't have to wake up alone and if we banned her from the room, she made damn sure that someone was in here. She also made sure Jack was okay. She's done so much to prove that she loves you and that's only this weekend.' Rossi stated.

Hotch sat in silence for a few minutes as he thought back on all the times she had proven that she loves him. 'Okay I'll tell her tonight.'

'Really?' Rossi smiled.

'Yes and if you're wrong at least I've told her and I can move on,' Hotch reasoned.

'I'm not wrong.'


	2. I love you

**Thank you for reading and leaving reviews! **

Chapter 2

Emily was on the phone to JJ in the car on the way to pick up Jack.

'So are you going to tell Hotch how you feel about him?' JJ asked.

'You've lost me.'

'Are you going to tell Hotch that you love him?'

'Love him as a friend? I'm sure he already knows that,' Emily was confused.

'No Em, that you are in love with him.'

'What no? I'm not in love with Hotch,' she denied quickly, before thinking about little moments shared between them and how she felt when she was around him. 'Oh... I do love Hotch.' Emily realised.

'Yes.' JJ smiled.

'No but I can't he's my boss.'

'Just because he's your boss doesn't mean you can't love him,' JJ laughed. 'And before you say anything, Hotch loves you as well.'

Emily scoffed in response to that revelation. 'No he doesn't. Also that's just complicated Jayje.'

JJ laughed again, louder this time. 'So first you're in denial about being in love with Hotch and now you're denying that he loves you?'

Emily almost smiled. 'I can't handle this right now, I'm picking up Jack so I'll see you at the hospital?'

'Yes, we'll see you at the hospital in a bit, try not to worry about the Hotch situation.'

'That's easier said than done but I'll try,' Emily replied as she pulled up in front of Hotch's place.

Getting back to the hospital with Jack, he ran into his dad's room.

'Hi daddy,' Jack ran up to give him a hug.

'Hey buddy, I missed you,' Hotch kissed his head and returned his hug before looking up at Emily and giving her a smile, mouthing the words 'thank you.'

* * *

Emily left Hotch and Jack alone to get a coffee where she met JJ and they had a chat.

'So are you still in denial?' JJ smirked.

Rolling her eyes, Emily took a sip of coffee and made a face at the taste. 'No. What am I going to do JJ? It's complicated.'

'I know it is, but everything will work out okay. I'm sure that we could pull some strings or blackmail some people and they'd let you and Hotch be together, if that's what you decide.'

'I don't know if I want a relationship with him... I haven't thought about any of that yet,' Emily replied honestly. 'I just realised.'

'Can you imagine spending the rest of your life with him? Does he make you happy and feel safe? Do you trust him?'

'Yeah of course I trust him and yes he makes me happy and feel safe. It's just... we're friends, I don't want to hurt him and I don't want to get hurt, not that I think he would but...'

'I get that. You don't have to decide anything at the moment. Whatever you decide we will be there to support both of you anyway.'

Emily smiled and gave her friend a hug. 'I know, thank you.'

'But the best relationships, start from friendship first.'

'I suppose that's true,' Emily smiled, that thought made her feel better.

'If Hotch asked you out on a date, what would you say?' JJ asked out of interest.

Emily smiled but thought about the answer properly for a minute. 'I would say yes.'

* * *

Later that evening.

'So how are you feeling?' Emily asked.

'I feel better, just waiting to get out. Thanks again, for bringing Jack and for everything you've done, I appreciate it,' Hotch gave her a smile.

'It wasn't a problem, I didn't mind doing it. He wanted to see you as well.'

They both stayed silent for a few minutes before Hotch spoke up. 'There's something I need to tell you.'

Emily swallowed and tried her best not to look away. 'That doesn't sound good.'

Hotch smiled softly. 'Look at me Emily.'

She looked up at him but it took a few seconds for her to look into his eyes as she felt her heart race. 'Is everything okay?'

'Everything is okay, I just want to talk to you about something.'

'Alright, I'm listening, what did you want to talk to me about?' Emily took a deep breath, not sure if she was ready to hear what he had to tell her.

Hotch thought about what he was going to say for a moment.

'You're starting to worry me,' Emily frowned as she became impatient.

He took a deep breath. 'I'm in love with you Emily. I love you more than anything,' Hotch spoke softly, so softly that Emily almost didn't hear him. 'I just want you to know.'

Emily was silent for a minute or so, as she took in what Hotch had said. She was shocked to say the least and he could tell by her face. 'I love you to Hotch.'

Hotch in return smiled as well. 'I couldn't think of a better answer. You make me happy Emily,' he took her hand in his as she moved closer to the bed.

'You make me happy to.' Emily squeezed his hand in return before moving up to kiss him carefully.

Hotch returned the kiss happily after a moment, as he felt his heart burst with love.

Emily pulled back abruptly with a shocked look, when he put his hand on her face carefully. 'Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?'

Taking her hand in his, he just smiled at her. 'No, you didn't hurt me. I'm fine, are you alright?'

She let out a sigh but gave him a smile. 'Okay, I'm good.'

Hotch moved up in the bed. 'Come here.'

Emily looked at Hotch for a few seconds. 'Are you sure that's...'

'Yes, I'm very sure.'

Emily rolled her eyes with a smile, before getting into the bed next to him. He kissed her lightly. 'Is this okay?'

'Yeah, it's okay,' she rested her head on his good shoulder. 'It doesn't hurt when I do that does it?' He shook his head. 'Has the doctor told you when you can come out yet?'

'No not yet but it should be tomorrow at the latest, if I carry on like this.'

'Just take it easy when you come back to work and when you get home.' Emily told him seriously.

'I promise,' he kissed her head softly. 'When I get out of hospital, would you let me take you out to dinner?'

Emily looked up at him with a surprised smile. 'Yes, I'd love that.'

'It's a date.' Hotch kissed her gently.

'Can't wait,' she rested her head on his shoulder again.

There was a moment of comfortable silence, as the two of them lay there thinking about everything had happened.

'You look tired.'

Emily laughed. 'I'm really tired but I can sleep later.'

'Go home and rest.'

'You want to get rid of me already?' Emily teased, looking up at him.

'No of course not, but I need you to sleep and look after yourself. I'm perfectly fine, I'm not going anywhere,' he intertwined their hands. 'Rossi told me you haven't been sleeping and have been here most of the time.'

'I slept a bit. I'll be able to sleep fine now though,' Emily laughed, before getting a message on her phone from JJ.

'You don't have to go now, I don't want you to leave yet but you do need to sleep.'

'I don't want to leave either but aren't you tired?' Emily asked.

'Not really, I've been asleep for the last couple of days anyway,' Hotch joked.

Emily glared playfully at him. 'That's not funny.'

'I'm sorry,' he smiled at her. 'What can I do to make it up to you?'

Emily pretended to think about it for a moment. 'Kiss me.'

'Gladly,' Hotch replied before kissing her deeply.


	3. Emily tells JJ

**~ Thank you for reading ! ~**

Chapter 3

Emily and Hotch were lying together in the hospital bed talking, when Hotch asked, 'regarding our date, would you like to go out for dinner or would you like me to cook?'

Looking up at him with a bright smile, 'can you actually cook?'

'Hey,' Hotch smirked and she laughed. 'I'll have you know I'm absolutely fine at cooking.'

'I'm joking,' Emily kissed his cheek softly. 'I honestly don't mind doing whatever, as long as I'm having dinner with you.'

Hotch felt his cheeks hurt when he smiled too hard. 'You're cute.'

'Aww thanks sugar so are you,' Emily flirted in a teasing tone.

Hotch laughed. 'Is 7 okay for you?'

'7 is a good time,' Emily confirmed.

'Do you fancy anything in particular?' Hotch asked.

Emily looked up at him with a smile before shaking her head. 'I don't mind. Surprise me.'

'Okay,' he nodded before giving her a kiss.

There was silence again and Emily was getting more and more tired, she was trying to keep her eyes open but lying down didn't help her.

After a few more minutes of silence, Hotch noticed Emily's breathing change slightly, and he knew she was asleep. He smiled before kissing her head softly, debating whether he should wake her up to go home or let her sleep for a bit, before making the second choice and carried on holding her until he fell asleep as well.

* * *

It was 3 in the morning when Emily jolted awake in the hospital bed, from a terrifying nightmare.

'Hey, are you okay?' Hotch woke up with her and put his hand on her back as he tried to sit up.

Emily looked back at him with a shocked and confused look before everything from the night before came back to her. 'Oh yeah I'm fine,' she tried to give him a reassuring smile. 'I didn't mean to fall asleep, you should've woken me up.'

'No, you were asleep Emily and you haven't slept in days, I wasn't going to wake you up, you needed sleep,' Hotch argued softly. 'Do you want to talk about it?'

Emily shook her head. 'Maybe tomorrow?' She suggested instead, she wasn't ready yet. 'Are you in pain? Do you need anything?'

'No I don't need anything, I'm fine,' Hotch stroked the hair out of her face. 'Are you okay?'

She decided to lie back down, resting her head on his shoulder again. 'Yeah I'm okay now, thank you. I might go home and get some more sleep, but I'll come back in the morning, I don't think they'll be happy with me sleeping in the bed.'

He smiled and kissed her head lightly. 'Yeah that's fine, go home and get some proper rest in a proper bed. You have to look after yourself as well,' he stroked her back lightly.

Emily thought he was right and she couldn't be bothered to argue with him. 'Okay,' she nodded before leaning down to give him a kiss. 'I'll see you soon. Plus you can't be that comfortable with me lying in the bed as well.' She kissed him goodbye again.

'Let me know as soon as you get back.'

'I promise.'

* * *

Emily came back at 10 that morning and went to see Hotch. 'Hey how are you feeling? Did you sleep fine after I left?'

'Yeah I slept fine and I feel okay, how are you? Did you sleep when you got back?'

'Yes I did,' Emily replied with a smile. 'Did the doctor say anything about when you can come out?'

'Should be by the end of the day I'm hoping.'

'That's good, the team said that they'd be coming in, they should be here in half an hour or something like that,' Emily told him as she sat on the chair and he took her hand.

'Okay,' Hotch squeezed her hand and beckoned her closer so he could give her a kiss.

Emily gave him a smile before talking again. 'I'm sorry for waking you up like that in the middle of the night.'

Hotch looked at Emily as if she was crazy, 'I don't care that you woke me up, I was more worried about you, so are you sure you're okay?'

Emily smiled. 'Yeah I'm fine, the nightmare wasn't that bad.'

'Do you want to talk about it?'

'It was just a previous case, it's fine, I'm okay I promise,' Emily gave him a kiss and he nodded.

'Oh and by the way, I was very comfortable with you in the bed last night,' Hotch laughed when she blushed.

* * *

An hour later when the team arrived, Emily met JJ for coffee. 'So any update with the Hotch situation?'

Emily managed to keep a straight face whilst responding, she didn't want to give anything away just yet. 'Yes there is.'

JJ waited for a few seconds in silence before asking. 'Well what happened, don't keep me in suspense.'

Emily cleared her throat before nodding. 'I told him that I love him.'

'Oh my God and what did he say? Has he said anything yet?' JJ was so excited already but at Emily's silence and the look she had on her face, she stopped smiling. 'Should I not be excited, should I be angry at Hotch?'

'No, he was really sweet about it,' Emily smiled. 'He even best me to it and told me he loved me first.'

JJ squealed in excitement. 'Oh my God Emily,' JJ started getting tears in her eyes and gave her best friend a tight hug. 'I'm so happy for you both, this is the greatest news we've had in a long time.'

'Thank you JJ, I'm happy. I kissed him and it was amazing,' Emily had a dreamy look on her face. 'And he asked if I wanted to have dinner with him. I said yes.'

JJ squealed again. 'I can't wait to help you dress up on your date, you're going to look so beautiful, I mean you always do but Hotch will go crazy for you. Even more than he already is.'

'Thank you. I actually went home this morning and fell asleep properly.'

'Oh that's so good Em. What time did you get home?'

Emily cleared her throat. 'I left at like nearly half 3 in the morning.'

'Why so late? Were you up talking?' JJ asked.

Emily smiled. 'No we were lying in the bed just talking and we both fell asleep, I woke up from a nightmare and we decided that I should go home and sleep. So I did.'

'Oh that's so cute but I'm sorry that you had a nightmare,' JJ gave her friend another hug.

'It's fine. About the date I thought we could go on a girls shopping trip, because I really need a new dress.'

'Oh I would love nothing more,' JJ smiled.

'But about this Hotch situation, we haven't discussed telling anyone yet and I think we'll do that soon at some point when he gets out of hospital, but if you could just not say anything to the team for now.'

'Of course not. My lips are sealed,' JJ promised. 'I'm just so happy for you two. Derek and I won the bet on you and Hotch getting together.'

'There's been bets?'

'Oh loads, but we've had to keep updating it because you took so long,' JJ laughed.


	4. Unofficial First Date

**Guest - Thank you for your lovely review, made my day!**

Chapter 4 - Unofficial First date

'Hey, what did they say?' Emily asked as her and JJ walked back into the hospital room to see Hotch and the team, standing around his bed.

Hotch smiled slightly. 'They said I could come out this evening. This afternoon at the earliest.'

'That's good,' Emily smiled back. 'Must be nice to be coming out of hospital.'

'Yeah, and to see Jack.'

* * *

Emily was there to take Hotch home later that afternoon. All she wanted to do was make sure that he got back okay and that nothing happened on the way.

She walked him up to his apartment and let them in before he started talking. 'You didn't have to walk me up here you know,' just like he'd said before, she replied the same way; she knows. 'But thank you,' he smiled at her.

'It's okay,' Emily smiled back. 'Do you have any food that I can cook for you? Because eating is a priority. Hospital food is awful.'

Hotch laughed and put his bag and things down on the side before going to take her hands in his. 'I don't need you to cook something for me. I don't really have anything. I was just going to go to get a few things tomorrow. So you can stay and we can order something in if you want? Even watch a terrible movie.'

Emily kissed him lightly before smiling. 'I think that's a brilliant idea. I would love that.'

'Great, do you want to order something and pick a movie, I just need to shower,' Hotch just wanted to feel fresh.

Emily nodded. 'What do you want? What movie do you want to watch? Can it be cheesy?' Hotch laughed.

'Pizza?' Hotch suggested and Emily nodded. 'Anything on it and you can pick the movie, I don't mind if it is a little cheesy,' Hotch gave her a kiss. 'I'll be back in a few minutes,' Hotch told her which buttons to press on the remote and the movie channel before jumping in the shower.

Emily in the mean time called the pizza place and ordered a meat feast before choosing to watch Mamma Mia, she just wanted to watch a romantic but feel good musical and it was the perfect movie, it was starting in 5 minutes.

'Hey did you manage to pick a movie and order?' Hotch asked when he came in, looking fresh.

Emily looked up at him. 'I ordered a meat feast and there's a movie starting in about 2 minutes.'

'Okay, what movie?' Hotch bent down to kiss her head softly before going to sit down next to her and offering her a blanket.

Emily blushed and gave him a smile before answering sheepishly. 'Mamma Mia. But it has Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.'

'Okay that sounds good, what is it about?'

_Thank god he doesn't know,_ Emily thought to herself. 'It's a feel good musical, about a mother and daughter, the daughter is getting married and trying to find her dad, turns out she has 3 possible fathers and I won't tell you the rest but it's amazing,' Emily smiled. 'It's all the songs from ABBA as well so I will be singing.'

Hotch smiled at her excitement over the film that was about to begin, so he kissed her deeply before giving a brief response. 'That sounds good.'

The movie started and 20 minutes into it, the pizza arrived and Emily paused it for Hotch to go and collect it, insisting that he had to watch every second of the movie.

Hotch went to get them a few drinks before they carried on with the movie and ate dinner. 'Do you like the movie so far?'

'Well I like the company more than the film,' Hotch gave her a smile. 'But yes I like the movie so far, it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.'

Emily laughed. 'That's a good enough answer. I like the company too.'

'Great, this could be like our unofficial first date,' Hotch suggested with a cute smile.

'I think that sounds good. It's a brilliant unofficial first date.' Emily agreed and Hotch laughed.

'Our first date will be better than this and have good food, I promise.'

'I think this is perfect the way it is,' Emily reassured him.

* * *

Emily fell asleep towards the end of the movie and although Hotch noticed he carried on to the end, before trying to decide if he should send her home or let her stay. He'd let her stay.

He decided to put on the news and carry on watching tv whilst Emily slept until he felt tired enough. He started thinking about their 'unofficial' first date and smiled. It was great, he couldn't have asked for a better way or person to spend the evening with.

Hotch checked the time before putting a blanket over them and lying down beside her before falling asleep quickly.

Hotch had his arm around her waist when they were woken up by Emily's phone ringing the next morning.

Emily woke up quickly, sitting up before grabbing her phone on the table to see who it was.

It was JJ. 'Hey.'

'Hey Em, where are you? Are you coming in soon?'

'Shit, yeah I am, sorry I'll be there soon.'

'Did I wake you up?'

'Mhm yeah.'

'Sorry, don't rush I just wanted to know where you were. Did you miss your alarm?'

'Yeah I did.'

Hotch had sat up and was listening to the conversation but waited to ask who it was.

'It was JJ, she was just wondering where I was. Oh crap, I didn't know it was that late.'

Hotch was in pain, but put his hand on her shoulder carefully when he saw her start to panic about oversleeping. 'Don't worry about it, just take it easy, there's no meeting that we have to be at right?' He double checked.

'No, just paperwork unless we get a case.'

'Then don't worry about being late. You're always on time, it's not going to change anything now,' Hotch reassured her softly, kissing her head and she smiled.

Emily took a deep breath and realised Hotch was right. 'Thank you.'

Hotch looked at her properly, letting his arm flop carefully back to his side. 'Are you okay?'

Emily nodded. 'Yeah. I'm sorry for falling asleep...'

'You don't have to apologise, I didn't mind you staying,' he stroked her face softly before giving her a kiss. 'I'll come into work in the afternoon.'

Seeing that she was about to protest, he quickly added. 'Not for long just a couple of hours, I'll take some files home and work on them here and I'll pick up Jack.'

'The doctor told you to take it easy.'

'I will, I'm not going to be doing much and I won't stay at work long unless we get a case, I promise I'll be fine,' Hotch reassured her.

Emily took a minute to think about his plan before agreeing. 'Okay.'

Hotch smiled. 'Do you want to get changed here, I can make you a coffee in the mean time?'

'Would that be okay?' She was late enough as it was.

'Of course it's alright.' Hotch sat up carefully and found that he was in more pain and let out a sigh.

Emily looked at him concerned. 'Are you okay? Are you in pain?'

'Just a bit, I'll be fine in a minute,' Hotch knew he couldn't fool her and he didn't want to lie.

Emily got up without another word and went to get him some water and his painkillers before giving them to him. He looked up at her and gave her a loving look. He took the pain killers before she asked him, 'are you sure that you're going to be okay to go work? I can bring you some case files if that helps but...'

'It's okay, I'll be alright, you don't have to worry,' he gave her a soft kiss. 'Go get ready, I'll make you coffee.'


	5. Lunch

**Thank you for the reviews - appreciate it greatly. **

_Chapter 5 - Lunch and girls trip _

When Emily walked in to work, she quickly sat in her chair, trying to get to work, before Derek and Reid managed to ask why she was late as they hovered over her.

'I overslept.' Emily answered shortly. 'Sorry, I'm just tired.'

'Is everything okay?' Derek asked.

'Yeah I just missed my alarm. I do want to talk I just need to get some work done first.'

'Emily, your here,' JJ smiled. 'What happened, let's talk somewhere else.'

'Only quickly.'

'Of course,' they went to sit down in her office. 'So what happened, why were you late?'

'I overslept,' Emily answered honestly.

'Oh.'

'I didn't hear the alarm or it wasn't set, but I overslept.'

'So what time did you come home last night? Must've been pretty tired, and how is Hotch?' JJ asked.

'I didn't go home. He was in pain this morning, but I made sure he took some pills for that.' Emily smiled slightly.

'How was it when he got home?'

'Yeah he was fine, he just took it easy. I stayed over and we both woke up when you called. We had an unofficial first date yesterday and it was amazing,' Emily blushed.

'Aw oh my god Emily, that's so great, did anything happen between you two...'

'No we just ordered dinner and watched a movie and I fell asleep before it ended but he didn't wake me up he just let me sleep, we slept on the couch, but I loved it. We were laughing and just having a really nice time,' Emily smiled.

'I'm so happy for you Em, I really am, so when are you going on your first date?'

'I think we'll do that soon when he's better completely, we haven't discussed when or anything but I think he's going to cook dinner and stuff, I'm looking forward to it already.'

'Oh I bet you are, well let us know so we can go shopping,' JJ reminded her.

'Yes I will definitely be doing that, very soon I promise. We'll tell Penelope that I have a date, but just not with Hotch yet...' Emily smiled. 'Speaking of Hotch, I need to get some work done because he said he's coming to work in the afternoon before picking up Jack.'

'What? Why is he coming in? He's supposed to be off work and relaxing.'

'I know, I told him that but he promised me he'd take it easy, he's just going to pick up some paperwork and see how we're all doing before picking up Jack, he said he'd do the work from home,' Emily reassured her. 'I don't like it either but I can't make him stay home if he doesn't want to.'

'You're his girlfriend now, you have more influence over these things.'

'Maybe, but I do get where he's coming from. He said he'd let me know if he needs anything anyway.'

'Alright, as long as he takes care of himself then it's fine,' JJ smiled. 'I'll let you go so you can start on your work, join us for lunch though.'

'Okay, I'd love to.'

* * *

Lunch a few days later

Emily, Garcia and JJ sat on their regular table for lunch, discussing work and relationships.

'So,' Emily started with a smile. 'I think we should go on a girls shopping trip.'

'OOHHHH,' Garcia piped up. 'That sound's like a good idea, when are we doing that?'

'Over the weekend if we don't get a case,' Emily replied.

'Sound's good to me,' JJ agreed. 'Girl's trip is needed urgently. What are you looking for specifically?'

Emily was trying not to let Garcia know yet. 'Just a new dress.'

'What for?' Garcia knew she was hiding something.

Taking a deep breath, Emily let out a sigh and smiled at her. 'I might have a date, so I just want to get a new dress... to leave a good impression.'

Garcia squealed in excitement. 'Aww who is the lucky guy, who are you going on a date with? Where are you going?'

Emily gave her a smile and took Garcia's hand. 'I'd say I'm the lucky one, he's a really great guy, so I don't want to tell you who it is yet. We just wanna see where it goes and what happens. We haven't spoken about any of that stuff yet, so I'll tell you who it is once we've done that. I'm just going to his place and he's going to cook something for us,' she told them excitedly.

'I'm so happy for you. You have to let us know how the date goes,' JJ smiled.

'I will definitely be doing that.'

'Well what is he like? Is he hot?' Garcia asked.

'Very,' Emily winked. 'He's so sweet and he makes me laugh. We had dinner the other day, it was an unofficial date, we just had dinner and watched a movie and spent most of the night talking.'

'I'm so happy for you Em but if he hurts you we're gonna kill him. Me JJ, Hotch, Rossi, Morgan and Reid, together so you better let him know.'

'Oh he knows, I've made sure of that. He would never hurt me, all he's ever done is try to protect me.'

JJ smiled.

'Do we know who he is?' Garcia asked.

'Yes and I've known him for years, he makes me so happy,' Emily blushed.

'I'm so happy for you Emily, it's so good to see you like this,' JJ smiled.

Emily's phone started ringing and she answered it quickly. 'Prentiss.'

'Hey.'

'Oh, hey,' Emily blushed as she bit her lip.

'Are you alright?' Hotch asked.

'Yeah, oh yeah I'm fine, are you okay?'

'Okay that's good, I'm fine,' Hotch smiled and took a deep breath before asking her a question. 'So I was wondering if your busy this weekend, if we don't have a case?'

Emily cleared her throat. 'Um no I'm not busy, did you have something in mind?'

'Dinner, for our official date this time?'

Emily smiled brightly. 'Yes, that sounds perfect.'

'Okay great, is 7 okay for you?'

'Yes that's great,' Emily confirmed.

'Okay great I'll see you then,' Hotch smiled. 'And back at work.'

'Won't be late,' Emily replied before they put the phone down. 'Okay so change of plans.'

'What is it?' JJ asked.

'I have a date on Saturday evening so we need to go shopping before then so I can get the best dress there is and hopefully look nice enough. I just want a day or two to decide if I'm wearing the dress and see how I feel in it,' Emily updated them.

'Ohh, well of course we'll go shopping before Saturday then and we'll have you looking more beautiful and glammed up,' Garcia replied.

'I just want this to be right.'

'It is,' JJ stated. 'You've impressed him enough, he asked you to have dinner with him and he likes you. This is right. You two are right for each other.'

'Thanks guys, I appreciate this.'


	6. First Date

Chapter 6 - First date

**Thank you for the reviews, much appreciated!**

Emily and the girls had gone shopping the next day to find a perfect dress for Emily. It took a while but they finally found one: it was a sparkly LBD.

'Hey, are we still on for tonight?x'

Emily was still asleep from a late night chatting session with the girls and when she woke up, the banging in her head reminded her of how much she drank.

A smile met Emily's lips when she read the message from Hotch. 'Hey, yeah definitely x.'

It was their first date as a couple and Emily suddenly felt the nerves kick in. She knew she was going to start overthinking it but it meant so much to her and she didn't want to mess it up.

'Emergency, how fast can you get here?' Emily sent JJ a text later that afternoon. She was starting to feel sick with nerves.

'What's going on? Is everything okay Em?'

'I can't go on our date tonight, I can't do it, I'll fuck it up. I can't risk it,' Emily replied to JJ's message quickly.

'I'll be round in a bit, you'll be fine, he loves you and you won't mess it up,' Emily read JJ's reply before getting in the shower.

After getting into some comfy clothes, she had a cup of coffee and a headache pill as she tried to distract herself from thoughts of her date with Hotch tonight.

When she heard a knock, she got up and answered the door to see JJ on the other side giving her a sympathetic smile. 'Hey, how are you feeling?'

'Still nervous. So nervous I feel sick. I'm sorry for dragging you out but thank you for coming over. I really appreciate it.'

'Any time. You have nothing to worry about, like I said earlier, he loves you and you can't mess it up,' JJ reassured her.

'Oh I could, but I'll take your word for it, do you want a coffee or anything?' Emily laughed.

'Yeah sure, that would be great. Are you ready for tonight? What time are you going?' JJ followed her into the kitchen.

'I feel like I'm ready for tonight, I'm just nervous, I'll get ready in a bit, you've got to tell me if I look okay though.'

'Of course I'll tell you, just take it easy and don't worry.'

'Would you mind texting Hotch and warning him in advance that I'm sorry if I say anything stupid or mess it up,' Emily wasn't giving her an option.

JJ gave her a look but knew she couldn't get herself out of this one. 'Okay.'

A few minutes later Hotch replied to JJ's message. 'You can tell her she won't mess it up and that if it makes her feel better I'm nervous about tonight as well.'

'Okay, so Hotch replied and said he's nervous about tonight as well, so you really have nothing to worry about,' JJ reassured her. 'Didn't you two have an unofficial date the other night anyway?'

Emily bit her lip. 'Yeah, I suppose so and it was great but this feels different.'

'Because it's official?' Emily nodded. 'Well you didn't fuck it up when it was your unofficial date with him, so you won't mess it up this time.'

* * *

A few hours later

Emily talked herself down when she froze, as she got up to Hotch's floor and the nerves got to her once again. "You can do it, you won't mess it up. He loves you,' Emily repeated to herself before getting to his front door.

Hotch was in front of the mirror trying to sort out his tie one more time, as he debated whether or not to have the tie on in the first place, before he heard a knock on the door. He took off his tie and put it on the side before taking a deep breath. He kept the button undone on his black shirt before looking in the mirror once more as he went to open the door.

When he saw Emily on the other side, his heart skipped a couple of beats. 'Wow.' He didn't think she'd ever looked more beautiful and sexy than she did now and when she gave him a smile, he thought he had been sent to heaven.

He couldn't believe he was this lucky.

That he was on a date with her.

That she could even love him.

When he finally found his voice, he told her to come in. 'You look beautiful. I'm so lucky.'

'Thank you, you look great to. I'd say I'm the lucky one,' Emily smiled.

'Are you still nervous?' Hotch asked as he passed her a glass of wine, hoping to make her feel better.

Emily bit her lip. 'Extremely.'

'You have no reason to be but don't worry, I'm nervous as well. This is too important to me, to mess up.'

That made Emily feel better. 'Me to,' she said in a short breath.

After a moment of comfortable silence and taking a seat on the couch, Hotch spoke up. 'The food is nearly ready by the way, it was supposed to be done by the time you'd gotten here but there was a delay with the sauce.'

Emily smiled. 'It's okay, what happened to the sauce?'

Hotch made a face. 'I burnt it.'

Emily let out a small but surprised laugh before biting her lip. 'How did you manage that?'

'I was trying to decide which shirt to wear and then I remembered that I put the sauce on but it was too late,' Hotch explained and he didn't feel as bad about burning the sauce as he did before when Emily's smile grew.

Emily felt the laughter bubble up inside of her until she couldn't hold it in any longer. 'Aww well I happen to love the black shirt.'

'Well thank you, I happen to really love your dress,' Hotch leaned in to give her a soft kiss, which she returned quickly.

'Thank you, it took me a long time to find and I wasn't sure about it at first but I'm glad I wore it. The food smells amazing, what are you cooking?' Emily started tracing careful patterns on his hand.

'I'm glad you wore the dress as well.' Hotch smiled. 'It's pork fillet with roasted potatoes and a creamy pepper sauce.'

'Oh my god that sounds amazing.'


	7. First Date: 2

By his side

Chapter 7

'Well lets hope it tastes good. If it doesn't I'm sorry in advance,' Hotch smiled.

'I accept your apology,' Emily laughed. 'I'm sure it tastes great.'

'Still nervous?'

'Not as much, sorry I made JJ text you,' Emily looked away.

'It's fine, I didn't mind. I also don't want to mess it up.'

'You won't,' Emily held his hand.

'Neither will you,' Hotch kissed her softly.

Emily kissed him back for a moment, before pulling away to explain. 'JJ only knows because we were talking about it before, and I wanted her advice on what to do.'

'It's okay. I really don't mind. I spoke to Dave about it as well. So he knows the situation,' Hotch reassured her. 'We can talk about telling the team if you want?'

'We have to tell work as well,' Emily sighed, she was stressed at the thought, and took another sip of wine as she decided. 'No, let's talk about it tomorrow. Tonight is about us.'

Hotch smiled. 'Okay that sounds good,' he responded before checking the timer on his phone. 'I'm just going to go and check the food and I'll be back. Do you want some more wine?'

'Yes I'd love some.'

* * *

As they sat down to eat dinner, Hotch had put candles on, and he made her try the food, anxious for her response. 'Oh my god, this is absolutely amazing. I love it.'

Hotch breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. 'Okay that's good, I'm glad.'

They started talking like normal whilst eating their food.

'So how's Jack doing?'

Hotch smiled, 'Jack is doing good. I saw that he drew a picture of you and him. He said you took him to the park and made him dinner, so thank you for that. He's a lot happier now at school as well.'

'Aww that's good. Yeah I took him to the park the other week, I thought we could both use the distraction, and he talked about how he was feeling, I didn't want him to keep it all in. I wanted him to know that I will always be there to listen, and I will always be there for him and you, no matter what.'

Hotch's heart raced as he heard what Emily said. He reckoned he just fell in love with her more than he did before. 'Thank you so much for doing that. I really appreciate it. I know he really loves you and he knows that he can talk to you.' He gave her a kiss. 'I love you, and I'm always here for you and to listen as well.'

Emily smiled. She knew that. 'I love you to.' She had some more of her food. 'So how did you cook this? It's absolutely amazing.'

Hotch chuckled. 'I learnt to cook it when I was just out of college. I had some free time when I was looking for a job, so I did a lot of cooking and I took a cooking course, which is where I learnt to make this,' Hotch explained and loved the look of surprise on her face.

'Oh wow, that's amazing. So you can cook,' she teased, and he laughed in return.

'Yes I can. I'll have to cook you some of the recipes I learnt.'

'I would love that. I always wanted to do a cooking course, because I love cooking, but I just never had the time, I was always moving around from country to country and then I went off to college,' Emily explained briefly.

Hotch kept a note of that in his mind, before asking her a question. 'Which country had the best food out of the ones you travelled to?'

'Ohh, that's a good question,' Emily smiled as she thought about the answer. 'I liked all of them, in different ways, I loved the carbonara dish I had in Italy, they always did the most amazing pasta.'

'Italy do the best pasta dishes. Which country did you like the most? Or which one wouldn't you go back to?'

'Erm, I liked all of them, Italy especially is a weird one, I had so many bad memories there but I love the country, I'd probably go back to all of them if I could.'

'I'm sorry you have bad memories of Italy.'

Emily took his hand. 'It's okay, it wasn't all bad, but I learnt a lot about myself when I was in Italy.'

'How often did you move around?'

Emily thought about it for a moment. 'It depended really, some of them were 3 months, 6 months but I never really settled, because I was always just ready to move again. I didn't have any friends and I never had anywhere I could call home,' Emily let out a sigh. 'But I am grateful to have been to all those countries and experienced the different cultures.'

'Would you say you have a home now?'

'Yes, and I have family. I have you,' Emily smiled.

'You do have me. And I have you.'

Emily nodded and gave him a kiss. 'Always.'

* * *

After dinner, they went for a small walk around the park and carried on talking.

Emily and Hotch were holding hands and walking near the dark green trees when Emily shivered. Hotch immediately stopped and took off his jacket, to give to her.

'No it's okay...' Emily shook her head.

'Don't argue. You're cold, take it.'

'But...' Emily tried again, before letting him put his jacket over her shoulders. 'Thank you. I forgot to take a jumper with me.'

'It's okay,' Hotch gave her a smile, kissed her head softly and rubbed her back lightly, before taking her hand in his again.

Hotch and Emily carried on their conversation and walk for a bit, before coming back to Hotch's apartment. 'I have dessert if you want some and we can watch a film?'

Emily smiled, 'that sounds brilliant, I'd love that.' She didn't want the date to end yet.

'I'll just go put it on and I'll be back in a minute, pick a movie.'

Emily went to sit down and selected the movie section, trying to pick a movie they could watch, something that wasn't so filled with drama and something they could watch as a distraction.

'Found a movie?' Hotch asked, as she was flicking through the movie channel.

'Not any amazing ones...' Emily looked up at him. 'Oh actually no, I lied. Men In Black is starting in 10 minutes.'

'Men in Black is a good movie, I'm fine with that,' Hotch gave her a smile as he went to sit next to her on the couch.

'Great, I promise I won't fall asleep this time.'

Hotch laughed in return and gave her a kiss. 'I really didn't mind. I like you staying over.'

Emily kissed him back. 'Me to.'


End file.
